Automatic checking and stopping apparatus for cars



F. L. FARR, AUTOMATIC CHECKING AND STOPPING APPARATUS FOR CARS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23,1919.

Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Q? am cm 01:

Wilt 1421mm F. L. PARH.

AUTOMATICCHECKING AND STOPPING APPARATUS FOR CARS.

APPLICATION flLED JUNE 23,1919.

Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

4 SHETSSHEET 2.

w-mm

' IIIIIII'll-p Snucnfoz F. L. FARR,

AUTOMATIC CHECKING AND STOPPING APPARATUS FOR CARS.

- APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23.19I9.

1 ,337, 948, Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

' 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

r 1 E e I l I I I I I I I I I 5 I l I I I I g I l I I I I l l l w I I II I i I I l I I I l I l l I I I I I I w I I J Suva mice I Lvi/tweooeo czaae M7 at W F. L. PARR.

AUTOMATIC CHECKING AND STOPPINti APPARATUS FOR CARS. APPLICATION FILED :uuzs, 1919.

Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

Sinucuioz wi tmoooe/s km w zzf UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK LESLIE FARR, OF HUN TIN GTON, WEST VIRGINIA.

AUTOMATIC CHECKING AND STOPPING APPARATUS FOR CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

Application filed June 23, 1919. Serial No. 306,148.

for Cars, of which.thefollowingisa specifi- :cation.

Th1s;1nvent1on relates to an automatic checking and stopping apparatus, particularly intended "for use, in connection with like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

.:.-Figure 1 isv a side elevation illustrating a portiond'f a.;coal;tipple': and illustrating a can-(upon a larger scale) operable to and.

. from said tipple aFig. .2is a side elevation, upon an enlarged scale ofa part: of a car having the invention applied thereto Fig.3 isa plan view ofa part of a car having-the invention "applied thereto; the car being indicated in dotted, lines;

Fig. 4: is a transverse vertical section through the year; and

,Fig. 5; is a perspective view illustrating a grapple yokeihereinafterdescribed.

It is a well known fact that many lives .ihave been lost andhundredsof thousands of dollars worth of property have been destroyed :by. cars, operable upon inclined railways, breaking loose fromtheir controlling means. Many instances of this nature have occurred in connect-ion with cars operating to 45 designated coal tipple in a general way at 5. 6 indicates .thencar that is adapted to be deliver coaltocoal tipples. In Fig. 1 I have drawn up the incline by a cable 7. Unless 'means are provided to prevent it the heavily loaded car, will, if the cable breaks, dash down the. incline and into the tipple, wrecking the latterand possibly killing many of the employees .therein. The resulting prop- .erty loss. isnot'to'be measured alone by the actual destructioncaused, but also includes the veryzlargesum lost byv reason of the fact that the tipple is thereby put out of operation until extended repairs can be made.

With view to guarding against the foregoing disastrous results, I providea grapple yoke comprising side-arms 9 having downwardly directed hooks 10; at their ,outer ends and downwardly directed legs 11 ,at their inner ends. The side-arms 9 are united by ,cross-barl-2, and braces 13 lend thenecessary rigidity to the structure. A shaft 1.4 extends transversely between and through the side-arms 9 and its projecting ends 15 are mounted in the outer members 16 of two part bearing brackets. The innermembers 17 of these brackets are fixedly secured to the body of the car. The outer members 116 are provided with tongues 18 which project into recesses 19 of the members 17 and these inner and outer members of the bearing brackets are united by breakable pins 20. It is intended that the strength of these pins shall be such as to resist all ordinary strain, but that when subjected to a strain exceeding a predetermined amount said pins will yield and permit the separation of the two parts of the brackets for a purpose which will be hereinafterfully set forth. The end of the cable 7 is attached to a short section of chain 21 which is in turn connected b a pin 22 and a coupling 23 with the car. he

bight portion of a cable 24 passes through the outermost link 25 of'the chain and the ends of this cable are attached at 26 to: the downwardly extendinglegs 11 of the grapple yoke. It will therefore be seen that'as long as there is the normaldegree of tension upon the cable 7 link 25 will draw upon cable. 2% to hold the grapple yoke in theJelevated position illustrated in Fig. 2.

Depending bearing brackets27 :are socured to the under side of the car frame and carry rearwardly projecting tubes 28. Sleeves 29 are slidably mounted upon these tubes, said sleeves being connected to rods 30 and hese rods are in turnpivotally connected at 31 to the lower ends of the legs 11. Springs 32 are disposed in the sleeves 28 and bear between collars 83 of the rods 30 and the brackets 27 and normally tend to thrust the rods 30 toward the right in Fig. 2. It is manifest that if the tension upon the cable 7 is relieved by the breaking of the cable, or

otherwise, these springs will immediately act to throw the grapple yoke forcibly downward to thereby bring the hooks 10 into forcible engagement with the ground or supports, such as the ties, upon which the rails of the track are mounted. This may or may not check the car, according to the load and the momentum of the car. I If the load is light and the car has not acquired any considerable degree of momentum the engagement of the hooks 10 with the track in the manner stated will serve to bring the car to a stop, but if the load is great or if the car has acquired a considerable degree of momentum it is not desirable to suddenly check the same, and under these conditions it is intended that the pins and the pivots 31 shall yield, leaving the grapple yoke engaged with the track to act as an anchor through which the car will be brought to a gradual stop by the means now to be described. Cables 34 are connected to the legs 11 at 35, extend rearwardly and are wound upon drums 36. These drums are mounted upona fixed shaft 37 which spans a casing 38 that is fixedly secured to the under side of the body of the car. The drums 36 are threaded upon the shaft 37, the threads being of slow pitch so that as the drums rotate they are fed gradually toward a fixed abutment 39 disposed between them. This abutment is faced with fiber indicated at 40 and the drums also carry fiber facings 41 adapted to engage the fiber 10 so that the frictional engagement between these two pieces of fiber will act as a brake to bring the drums to a gradual stop, particularly since the engagement of these drums with the threads of the shaft 37 feeds said drums toward the fixed abutment as stated, it being understood that the threads are given the necessary direction to accomplish this result.

7 Thus it will be seen that I have provided automatic means operable when the tension of a cable is relieved to move into engagement with the track, constitute a fixed anchor upon the track and having connection with brake elements upon the car by which the car may be brought to a gradual stop without undue shock or jar.. This is highly advantageous when the car is carrying passengers, since otherwise the very sudden checking of the car would tend to hurl the passengers from the same.

While I have illustrated and described the invention in its relation to use upon a -mine car or a car used in delivering coal to a coal tipple, it is apparent that it is equally applicable and valuable in any relation where it is desired to check the otherwise uncontrolled movement of a car under the influence of gravity. It'may be used upon street cars or other passenger cars operating upon inclined track-ways and it is therefore to be understood that the inventi'o'n'is not limited to the use recited or to the particular construction herein shown and described but that, upon the contrary it includes within its purview any changes fairly coming within either the terms or the spirit of the appended claims.

Having described my invention what I claim is:

1. In combination, a car, a grapple yoke havingtrack engaging hooks at its outer ends, and depending legs at its inner end, rods pivotally connected to said depending legs and springs engaging said rods and tending to move the books into engagement with the track, a flexible haulage element an end of which is directly connected to the body of the car, a cable the 'bight portion of which is connected with said flexible haulage element and the terminal ends of which are connected to said legs.

2. The combination'with a car, of a grapple yoke pivotally mounted thereon at the rear end thereof, a cable attached directlyto 3. A structure as recited in claim 2 in combination with spring means for forcing the yoke into engagement with the. ground when the tenslon upon the cable is released.

4. In a device of the character described the combination with a car, of a track engaging element mounted upon ahd bodily 7 movable with the car, breakable meansfor connecting the track engaging element to the car adapted to yield under strain exceeding a predetermined degree, braking elements upon the car and connections between said brakingelements and the track engaging element operable when thelatter separates from the car. v 5. A structure as recited in claim 1 in combination with cables connected to the legs of the yoke and brake'elements mounted upon the car to which said cables are connected.

6. A structure as recited in claim 1 .in combination with cables attached to the legs of the yoke and yielding, checking and braking elements with which said cables are engaged.

7. A structure as recited in claim 1 in combination with cables attached to the legs of the yoke, drums upon which said cables are wound and friction engaging means for said drums. I

8. The combination with a car, of'a track engaging element mounted thereon, a haulage cable for the car, means under control of the tension of thehaulage cable for persaid drums and connected to the track engaging element, and yieldable members constituting a connection between the track engaging element and the car adapted to yield under strain beyond a predetermined degree.

9. A structure as recited in claim 8 wherein said drums are mounted for bodily endwise movement as they rotate and a friction element into engagement with which they move during such endwise movement.

10. In a device of the character described the combination with a car and a shaft thereon, of a pair of drums threaded upon 15 said shaft for endwise movement, friction elements into engagement with which said drums are moved by such endwise movement, cables wound upon said drums, a track engaging structure to which said cables are connected and means by which the track engaging structure is releasably connected to the car, said means being operable under strain beyond a predetermined degree.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

F. LESLIE PARR. 

